Mumbai, July 1 (IANS) Two days after the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) raised the stunning issue of fake driving licences (DLs) in the Maharashtra Legislature, the Regional Transport Office (RTO) has set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the mega-scam, official sources said here on Monday.
The five-member SIT – headed by Andheri Regional Transport Officer Anil Patil, a Deputy RTO, and three senior RTO inspectors – will submit its report after scrutinising all the dubious DLs issued last year (2023-2024) by the Andheri RTO (MH-02), within one week, sources said.
The development came three days after a hurried internal probe was initiated following the revelation of an audit report submitted by the Maharashtra Accountant General (Audit II) which carried out a random check of 1.04 lakh DLs, and detected that at least 76,354 dubious DLs were issued by the Andheri RTO (IANS report June 28).
Following a tip-off by a local social worker Binu Varghese, the rattled RTO officialdom got cracking on the issue of potential ‘killers’ speeding on Mumbai’s roads with DLs that were issued without even conducting a basic test of their driving skills.
After Congress Leader of Opposition, Vijay Wadettiwar, and state party President, Nana F Patole alleged massive corruption in the department headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Speaker Rahul Narwekar ordered the government to take serious note of the issue and initiate appropriate measures.
Besides the internal probe which continued over the weekend, throwing up a few more shockers, now the SIT will delve deeper into the matter – in which many heads are expected to roll.
During the internal probe, it was learnt that one particular RTO Inspector had allegedly issued around 400 DLs per day – against the regular quota of just 70 per RTO Inspector – which has raised suspicions of severe multiple irregularities.
Sources explained that for the average 5 hour driving test period, that particular officer apparently worked at lightning speed, conducting a full-fledged driving test for different types of big and small vehicles along with all the accompanying formalities, to clear one candidate every minute…!
The registration of one of the cars deployed for the official driving tests has expired, yet it was being used for driving tests, though it was not an authorised vehicle for the intended purpose, as per the rules.
It has further emerged that of the DLs scrutinised so far, around 50 per cent may have been doled out without the candidates ever undergoing a properly supervised driving test, and the rest have shown other glaring shortcomings.
Meanwhile, the revelations by IANS have reverberated across the other 53 RTOs in Maharashtra and many have quietly initiated correctional measures suo motu at their end.
This includes documentation, following laid down procedures and conducting proper driving tests before the successful candidates are cleared and are found eligible to get a valid DL, entitling them to drive different types of big and small vehicles, said sources.
(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in)
–IANS
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